Magnolia
by ricexbowls
Summary: Axel and Roxas are sick of their not so great lives, so they decide to pack up and go somewhere new. But getting there is just the easy part. Akuroku.
1. Chapter 1

Roxas stumbled out of his house, slamming the door behind him. He brought his hand up to his face, wiping the blood off his chin.

"Stupid jackass…" he grumbled to himself, beginning to pick up a light jog. This was becoming a very usual thing, and he only ever had one destination – to Axel's house. His friend lived by himself in a little apartment, and luckily would welcome Roxas in whenever this kind of shit happened.

The sun was just beginning to go down, but it was still pretty humid and Roxas began to work up a sweat. _I'm so sick of this_ he thought. This used to just happen maybe a couple times a month, but now he'd be lucky if he managed to stay a full night at his house. His dad had a tendency to get drunk and just beat the crap out of anything around him, which usually ended up being Roxas. His dad wasn't always like this, though. After Roxas' mom died, he just wasn't the same person anymore.

Depression does that to people.

He wanted to feel bad for his father, but he couldn't find it in him. They were both hurting. While his dad may have lost his wife, Roxas had also lost his mother of seventeen years. It wasn't fair for either of them, and it sure as hell wasn't fair for his dad to take his anger out on him. Roxas could even care less about his drinking. But constantly having to vacate his house because he got punched in the face? Not okay.

He made the last turn onto Axel's street, going up the couple flights of stairs to his apartment. Then, he rang the doorbell he was so familiar with.

Axel opened the door, "He Rox –," his face dropped. "Oh fuck, Roxas. Again?"

Roxas stepped through the door shutting it behind him. He lazily put his head on Axel's chest and wrapped his arms around him.

"Seems like it," he mumbled into his shirt.

Axel patted his back, sighing. "What are we gonna do with you, eh?"

The younger boy mumbled something incoherent, and Axel pulled away from the hug, keeping his hands on Roxas' shoulders. He sighed again, "You know the drill."

Roxas did what he usually does, propping himself up on the kitchen counter while Axel cleaned up his face. Typically, it was just a nosebleed and some bruises – nothing that required legitimate medical attention. But Axel knew how to make him feel better, so he let him do whatever he needed.

"Rox, why don't you just stay here for the night, okay? It's no biggie, you know that."

Roxas nodded. He really did like spending the night at Axel's. It's one of the few places he could actually get a decent night's sleep.

Axel made the boy a sandwich and got him something to drink, and then resumed his position back on the couch, waiting for Roxas to change clothes and what not. A few minutes later, Roxas took his usual place next to him. They began to watch some stupid, but mildly entertaining reality shows, and it wasn't long after they decided they should go to bed.

Both of them had been friends since middle school, so neither of them really cared about sleeping in the same bed together. Axel was three years older than Roxas, and had graduated a couple years before the younger boy. Roxas, on the other hand, had just started his junior year in school. It was pretty lonely for him in the hallway and classes now that Axel had left, but he was pulling himself through anyway.

Axel turned off the lights and adjusted the blankets for a second.

"Night, Roxas."

"Yeah, goodnight," Roxas closed his eyes.

It didn't take long for either of them to fall asleep that night.

* * *

The next morning, Roxas woke up first. He quickly shoved his body off of Axel's when he realized how close they were, and then got up and headed to take a shower, ignoring the slight pain he felt around his eye. He looked in the mirror, noticing that his left eye was a little bruised, but nothing terrible. His bottom lip was also a bit swollen.

Roxas was over there so often that he had about 2 weeks of clothes accumulated up, shampoo, and his own toothbrush there. There wasn't really any point in trying to take stuff from Axel's house back to his, he usually ended coming back within a couple days.

By the time he got out of the shower, Axel had woke up and started to make some toast and pulled out some cereal. He kept Frosted Flakes specifically for Roxas.

"Hey Axel…" Roxas said as he sat down at the table. "What do you say we get out of here?"

Axel looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Well… you can drive. I have money. Why don't we just go? Fuck this place. You don't have anyone to lose, my dad probably won't even notice, so why don't we just leave?" Roxas tried to sound reasonable.

Axel scratched his head. "What about school, Rox?"

Roxas scoffed. As if he really cared about school at this point. Actually, school was probably the least of his worries. He hated school and the people that go there. Basically, the only friend he has is Axel. His mom died a couple years ago, his dad turned into a drunk, so what really was his purpose in staying here? It's not like he planned on going to college.

"Axel, I could care less. I just want out of here. I can't do this anymore, I'm serious."

Axel knew that he wasn't kidding. The poor kid was depressed as all get out – he carried huge bags under his eyes constantly from lack of sleep, and he's probably dropped at least fifteen pounds because his lame ass dad doesn't buy any food. Roxas has barely managed to keep up with his part-time job. Not to mention, they both lived in this shitty, little town in the mountains of Virginia. Talk about boring.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, eating cereal and thinking about their options.

"Let's go to New York City," Roxas broke the silence. "We can find a cheap apartment and new jobs and just fucking get somewhere new, you know? Think about it. I say we ditch this place, pile as much stuff into your car as we can, and get out of here. We could be there in ten hours."

"And what are we going to do once we get there? You don't just rent an apartment in a day."

Roxas paused. "I have about six-thousand dollars saved up from working, we can just get a hotel. It'll be fine. Let's just wing it and see what happens."

Roxas looked so excited now, almost pleading, and it was kind of heart-breaking. Axel wasn't sure if it was the kid's imagination getting to him or what, but he was pretty ignorant to think they could just get up and leave like this. But something about how he was talking was so convincing, like the little shine in his eyes and the desperation in his voice. Roxas made him feel like this could actually work, even though something in the back of his mind was screaming this was a terrible, terrible idea.

After a moment, Axel smiled. "Let's do it."

* * *

**I randomly got an idea for this while I was at work, so you could consider this a prologue of sorts. I'm not entirely sure where this one is going, but I'm going to try to figure that out if anyone is interested in the continuation of this story! :3 Thanks for reading ~ Hannah. **


	2. Concrete Slabs

After more than ten excruciating hours in the car together, Axel and Roxas dropped their bags down in the hotel room floor and collapsed onto the bed.

"We made it," Roxas mumbled, holding a pillow over his face.

"Fuck. We actually did it."

They decided to pick some hotel that was about one-hundred dollars cheaper than most of the hotels in the area. The place was almost 100 years old, but it relatively decent if you ignored the severe lack of water pressure and air conditioning. The view from the window almost made up for that, as you could see nothing but the city.

They pulled out some pajamas and changed clothes, neither of them bothering to eat dinner. It was already almost midnight, and the day's car ride had made them completely exhausted. They switched off the lamp, which sparked when you turned it on or off, and went to sleep.

They woke up in the morning, which would be completely dedicated to apartment hunting.

"Rox, come here," Axel motioned to the spot of the bed next to him, where he was sitting with his computer.

"Watcha got?" Roxas peered over onto the screen, obnoxiously blocking Axel's view. He shoved his head out of the way.

"Ahem. So bad news. I was only able to find two apartments near where ever the fuck we are that are under $1000 a month," Axel looked over at Roxas, who was pouting and rubbing the top of his head. Axel rolled his eyes.

"And I'm pretty sure we'll be able to walk to these. So uh…" Axel shut his laptop and looked at Roxas. "Let's go."

The apartments really were within walking distance – just a few blocks away. The first one was a little farther than a few though, but they managed to get there without getting lost. The landlord was waiting on the porch when they got there. One look at the building, and they pretty much knew what they were fucked. It was made entirely out of white concrete bricks, which were cracked and pretty worn out.

Ten stories of old, withered bricks. How promising.

Axel and Roxas gave each other a look, silently agreeing with one another as they followed the lady into the building. They proceeded to go up a – how unpredictable – steep concrete stair case that spiraled around in a narrow hallway. They went up about half way, and stopped at a hallway, where they were presented with more dirty concrete flooring. Chains with nothing but light bulbs attached lit the hallway. (Where the fuck were the windows?) They approached the potential apartment, the 524 sign nailed to the door hanging crooked. The door creaked loudly as they opened it, and then they were presented with a lovely, pitch-black room. Made of, you guessed it: concrete. The land lord quickly went to the center and pulled the chain to the light, the light bulb flickering several times before coming on, and then creating a constant buzzing noise that echoed off the walls.

The room smelt musty, and had dark stains on the floor that were probably some sort of mold. The walls were cracked and covered in dust. Since the apartment was a "studio", there was only a small kitchen and a single bathroom, the door hanging off the hinges. There was one single window, but it was facing the building that was only feet away from theirs, so it was pretty much useless.

"So, what do you guys think? Five-hundred dollars this place is yours. A little paint can go a long way!" The lady enthusiastically gestured to the walls.

Axel looked at Roxas, "Uh... I uh, think we'll definitely consider it, but we're gonna check out some more places first." Roxas nodded in agreement.

The lady frowned.

"Well, alright, let me get you guys back to the parking lot."

Once they were out of her range, they immediately started to laugh.

"Axel, what the fuck was that? _That_ was one of the places you found?"

"There weren't any pictures on the website, okay? Totally not my fault," Axel checked his watch. "Ugh, we wasted over an hour at that stupid place. Come on shorty, we need to get a move on to the next place," Axel patted his thighs like he was talking to a puppy or something.

"It's not my fault you have freakishly long fucking legs."

The next apartment complex appeared to be much more promising. It was taller than the last one, but much more up kept looking. They were met with another female landlord, who looked much more appropriately dressed.

She smiled, "Right this way, please."

They eagerly followed her inside, where there was a nice little lobby, and also an elevator. They followed her inside, and watched as she pressed the button.

"We're on the top floor?" Axel raised an eyebrow.

"You bet. It actually has some of the best rooms we have to offer."

"Ah."

The elevator was a little creaky, but not too bad. After a couple minutes they reached their floor.

Stepping out, they were immediately relieved to be met with carpet. Their apartment was the second on the right, number 1503. They were much more satisfied with what they saw.

The floors were wood, not new, but in good enough condition. The walls, although still old looking, were smooth and white, with a large window right in the middle of the living area. There was a little room off to the side that would act as the bedroom, a bathroom so small you could barely turn around in it, and a kitchen that would probably annoy the shit out of them, but still had decently updated appliances.

The apartment also had working light fixtures.

"How's it lookin' to you guys?" The lady asked.

Axel and Roxas smiled in unison.

"This actually is what we were looking for. It's… much better than the last one we saw." Axel looked at Roxas, grinning lightly. Roxas giggled.

"Well, that's great to hear. As you probably know, the rent here is $875 a month. We provide water, heat, air conditioning, and basic cable and internet. Some areas around here might be a little dangerous, but other than that, you'll be pretty close to some shopping areas and tons of restaurants. You're also about a 20 minute cab ride away from Times Square."

"That's great. How soon can we move in? We can't really keep paying for a hotel every night."

"I could have you guys set to live here in 24 hours. If you could just sign some of these papers, I'll try to get you squared away as quick as I can," She pulled a clip board and pen out of her bag, handing it to Axel. Ignoring the small print, he flipped through each page, signing the dozens of "sign here" blanks. He shook her hand as he handed it back to her.

"I'll give you a call tomorrow sometime, it was nice to meet you guys," She smiled as they thanked her.

By the time they got home, it was almost dark.

"Well, today was kinda successful. I think," Roxas said, sitting down on the bed.

"I think we found a really nice place, Rox. It's gonna be great," Axel laid down on the other side of the bed.

"I'm fucking starving."

"Me too."

"Why don't you feed me? You're a terrible friend," Roxas fell back onto Axel's stomach.

"Oh, shut up. Why don't we order pizza or something?" Axel gently patted the younger boy's hair.

"Hmph. I guess that would work."

After ordering and devouring an entire pizza, they decided to call it a night.

Minutes after laying in the dark, Roxas started thinking.

"Axel, what do you think people are thinking about us back home?"

"Well, I couldn't give you an honest answer on that. I'm sure people are wondering, but as harsh as it sounds, I'm not sure anyone cares enough to do anything about it."

Roxas sighed. Axel looked over at him, even though they couldn't see each other. After a moment, Roxas rolled over and curled up onto Axel's chest. Axel smiled a little and wrapped his arm around him.

"What's this all about? We're gonna be okay, Rox," He ran his fingers through his hair. Roxas had a tendency to randomly become emotional.

"I know… It's just. I dunno. I'm just thinking too hard, I guess. Let's just go to sleep."

Axel continued stroking his hair until they both finally passed out.

**A/N:**

**I took forever to update this fic because of real life bullshit. Now that I have free time again, I think I might start updating it and getting into it more. Let me know what you guys think! If enough people are interested, I'll definitely write longer chapters. **

**Hannah**


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